Player Information
Full name: Robson (Robinho) de Souza
Date of birth: January 25, 1984
Birthplace: São Vicente, São Paulo, Brazil
Nationality: Brazilian
EU passport: No
Height: 172 cms
Weight: 60 kgs
Club: Manchester City
Position: Forward [C]
Squad Number: 10
Contract expires: June 2012
Previous clubs: Santos > (€25m) Real Madrid > (£32.5m) Manchester City
International debut: July 2003, v Mexico
International Caps: 55
International Goals: 13
World Cups: Germany 2006
Awards
FIFA Confederations Cup (2005)
Copa America (2007)
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (2002, 2004)
Spanish La Liga (2007, 2008)
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Player of the Year (2004)Copa America Best Player (2007)
Copa America Top Scorer (2007)
Biography
1984
Born January 25 in Sao Vicente near Santos.
1996
Discovered by Santos and wins a place in the club's junior divisions.
1999
Pele sees Robinho taking part in a youth team training session and is reported as saying: "This lad takes me back to the start of my career."
2000
Makes his professional debut for Santos at the age of 16 in a 3-1 win over arch-rivals Corinthians.
2002
December: Santos beat Corinthians over the two-legged final to win the Brazilian championship. The most replayed moment of the tie is when Robinho performs seven successive step-overs as he provokes an opponent into giving away a penalty.
2003
June: Santos reach the South American Copa Libertadores final for the first time in 40 years and lose to Argentina's Boca Juniors in the two-leg final.
July: Part of Brazil squad that loses Concacaf Gold Cup, makes full team debut against Mexico.
2004
January: Plays in the Brazil under-23 team which fails to qualify for the Athens Olympics.
November: Robinho's mother Marina de Souza is kidnapped from a barbecue at a friend's house in Santos by two armed men. Robinho is sidelined by coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo.
December: Robinho's mother is released. Two days later, Robinho returns and Santos beat Vasco da Gama 2-1 in their last game to clinch their second Brazilian championship in three years. Finishes as joint top scorer for Santos with 21 goals.
December: Collected 37 votes to finish third in the El Pais' South American Player of the Year award.
2005
June: Part of Brazil squad for Confederations Cup. Turns in a virtuoso performance in Brazil's 3-0 win over Greece scoring one, winning a penalty for a second, and ends up being voted Man of the Match. Brazil beat Argentina 4-1 to win Confederations Cup. After the game, Robinho says he wants to join Real Madrid.
July: Real reach a deal with Santos to buy the Brazilian club's 60 percent share in the player for $30 million. Under the terms of the agreement Robinho continues to play for Santos in the Brazilian championship until August.
August: Scores twice in his final home game for Santos against Figueirense. Signs five-year deal with Real Madrid, he later made a scintillating debut as a substitute in Madrid's season-opening 2-1 victory over Cadiz.
2006
August 02: Real Madrid's Gravesen and Robinho exchanged a few punches during a training match, and were rewarded for their "fighting spirit" by Capello, with expulsion from training.
August 29: Italian giants AC Milan have had a 25 million euro bid for Brazilian forward Robinho rejected by Real Madrid, according to a sports daily AS.
2007
June 17: Helped Real Madrid to end their four-year trophy drought when they won the league title for the 30th time after a dramatic 3-1 comeback victory over Real Mallorca at the Bernabeu.
July 1: Scored a hat-trick as defending champions Brazil bounced back from an opening defeat by Mexico to beat Chile 3-0 in the Copa America.
July 15: Member of the Brazil squad that stunned bitter rivals and overwhelming favourites Argentina 3-0 to win their eighth Copa America title. Robinho was also Top Scorer and Most Valuable Player of the competition.
2008
May 4: Helped Real Madrid to win its 31st Primera Division title.
September 1: Manchester City beat Chelsea to the signing of Robinho from Real Madrid for a British record transfer fee of about £32.5m. Sports daily Marca said on its Web site that Robinho had signed a five-year contract worth $8.8 million per season.
October 26: Scored his first Man. City hat-trick in the Premier League 3-0 victory over Stoke at the City of Manchester Stadium.
FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile
Robinho's dribbling skills have earned him comparison with the great Garrincha.
The youngster, who made his full international debut in Brazil’s 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup final defeat by Mexico, was warned early in his career that he risked getting his leg broken if he humiliated older defenders - but he took no heed and quickly made the pedalada, or step-over, his trademark.
Known as O Principe (the Prince to Pele's King), he won two Brazilian championships with Santos in 2002 and 2004 prior to joining Real Madrid, and added the FIFA Confederations Cup to his list of honours in 2005.
© 2001-2006 FIFA, All Rights Reserved
UEFA Champions League 2005-06 player's profile
The svelte Robson de Souza 'Robinho' is considered one of the brightest attacking talents to have emerged from Brazil in recent years.
National team
Robinho's debut for Brazil came on 13 July 2003 against Mexico in an Under-23 side fielded in the CONCACAF Gold Cup to gain experience ahead of the 2004 Olympics. Brazil lost that final 1-0 to Mexico, but Robinho made his way into the senior squad and scored twice in Germany as his nation won the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Club
A Santos FC product, Robinho broke into the senior team as a teenager and struck seven goals in 2002 as he and fellow youngster Diego inspired the club to the Brazilian title. Displaying his patented 'pedalada' dummy, Robinho was soon compared to Garrincha. A €36m price tag put off European suitors, and in his Copa Libertadores debut in the next year in Colombia against América de Cali he produced a piece of skill so outrageous that the home fans gave him a standing ovation. Santos eventually lost to CA Boca Juniors in the final, but the next year Robinho struck 21 goals as his side reclaimed the Brazilian championship.
2004/05: Despite Santos's success, it was a difficult time for Robinho as his mother was kidnapped, leading him to step aside from football for nearly two months until she was released. His friend Diego departed for Europe along with Nilmar and Vágner Love, and although Robinho started the season in May, he was dropped after the Confederations Cup when he said he wanted to go to Real Madrid CF even though their €24m bid was rejected. However, when the player agreed to waive his 40 per cent share of any transfer, he was allowed to go to Spain and signed a five-year contract.
Did you know?
A former player with a relative amount of clout at Santos, then youth coach Pelé said watching a 15-year-old Robinho reminded him of himself and "almost made him cry". He then insisted Robinho move into the players' lodgings to ensure he got three square meals a day.
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